ST ABUNDANTIA OF SPOLETO, VIRGIN - 19 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Prayer to the Angels and the Saints

Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.

In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.

Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.

Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.

ST ABUNDANTIA OF SPOLETO, VIRGIN 

Saint Abundantia was the daughter of noble parents and a spiritual student of the holy abbot Majolus. She was born near Spoleto in Italy, and as soon as she was born gave such amazing proofs of her higher vocation that everyone wondered, "What will become of this child?" 

THE CHURCH BELLS STARTED RINGING

For at her baptism the candles were lit without any human hands doing this, and the church bells started ringing on their own accord. At the age of eight she was already so intimately acquainted with the divine Child Jesus that she was honoured to receive nine golden apples from him and to be able to hand over to him the most beautiful winter flowers. 

SHE MADE A PILGRIMAGE TO JERUSALEM

Archangel Raphael led her to the holy abbot Majolus led and handed over to his leadership. She also made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and spent five years in the cave of St Onuphrius. When she returned to Spoleto, the holy Archangel Raphael revealed to her that the end of her earthly life was approaching. She died with all the bells of the city ringing, and although it was deep in winter, the loveliest flowers sprouted up around her. This happened in the year 804.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)